Andy Beast

Andy Beast is a 2012-introduced and cartoon-only character. He is a unspecified type of monster and an unusual example of his kind to boot. Whenever he gets upset, he grows many times his size and loses much of his rationality. His parents were unable to provide him with a home due to his condition, so they sent him away. Due to a shipwreck, he ended up on Skull Shores and spent a good portion of his life there, at a distance from the locals, before reintegrating with society and enrolling at Monster High. Andy has limited self-esteem because of his difficult childhood, but his first steps towards healing have been made.

Contents

Portrayers

Character

Personality

Due to a youth filled with disappointments and rejections, Andy has had trouble trusting others and may appear shy and ill-mannered. He also lives in constant fear of his beast side being unleashed, which he thinks makes him a danger to others. Since befriending the Monster High students, he has began to gain confidence, but it's still a way to go before he'll have dealt with his insecurities.

Andy presumably is from around the 18th century and has been living alone on Skull Shores since that time. As a result, he is unfamiliar with modern day technology, and is easily freaked out by it.

Appearance

As he normally looks, Andy possess yellow irises, a light purple skin and dark purple hair. His ears are pointy and resemble a deer's. He also has white minitiature antlers and sports a dark purple goatee.

As beast, Andy is some ten times his usual size, has a dark purple skin, and is covered in fur. He sports a full beard. His irises are orange, while the rest of his eyes is yellow. His antlers are huge and purple.

Classic Monster

Andy doesn't seem to be based one particular classic monster, but incorporates elements of several different ones.

Andy's role in his debut TV special is heavily based on King Kong (originally Kong), the titular character from the 1933 movie King Kong, who resides on the island known as Skull Island. King Kong is a giant ape that terrorizes the natives of Skull Island, but falls for the charms of a woman visiting the island, Ann Darrow. She comes to both fear the creature and sympathize with him, but neither does the creature good. King Kong is eventually captured and brought to New York, where he is put on display. Frustrated by severe maltreatment, King Kong breaks free and grabs Ann. With her in one hand, he climbs the Empire State Building to escape the crowds. At the top, he makes sure Ann remains safe, but he himself is killed by the gunfire from a squadron of military airplanes.

Andy also shares a few characteristics with the Beast from the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, though most come from the fact that the stories of King Kong and the Beast are already thematically similar. Nonetheless, Andy's change from handsome young man to ferocious beast is unique to the latter story. Also, the scene with Andy stuffing his mouth full in the creepateria appears inspired by Disney's 1991 movie adaption of the fairy tale.

Andy's design has a forest theme, due to his combined elvish appearance and deer-themed looks. Particulary in his beast form, Andy resembles European forest men such as the Green Man, and the wild man.

The transformation Andy undergoes due to stress and other negativity invokes the main trait of the Marvel superhero, Hulk. Like him, Andy's clothes tear apart during the change, but his pants magically fit both sizes.

Lastly, Andy's character takes from the freaks, deformed humans who were put on display in freak shows in Europe starting the early 17th century. Andy's unique ability to change into a beast, and perhaps his entire monster identity, is probably the result of a mutation he was born with, which makes him different from his kin.

Relationships

Family

Andy's background is hinted at through several things Andy said, but isn't clearcut. He says that he "grew up as the only monster in a normie town", suggesting but not confirming his family consists of humans. Taking into account that Andy's last name is Beast, the suggestion becomes more that his parents are monsters too and that Andy is an only child, therefore being the only monster growing up in his town. Andy does explicitly state, though, that his particular ability to change as a consequence of negative emotions is unique to him.

The way Andy's parents felt or feel about him isn't clear either. Andy says that the family moved several times in order to find a suitable environment for their son, where he wouldn't be made an outcast. But he also says that when they couldn't find one, they sent him far away.

Friends

Andy's dearest friend is an explorer who visited Skull Shores around the start of the 20th century. She was the first person he met outside his family that was not afraid of him and with whom he felt at ease. When she left, Andy created several statues of her to help him remember her and the feeling of acceptance.

At the start of the 21st century, Andy met Frankie Stein, who looked and acted a great deal like his 20th century friend. Andy and Frankie befriended each other quickly.

Andy may share a friendship with Kipling, who like him is a freak and whom at the same time as Andy learned that this didn't make him less of a person.

Romance

Andy isn't romantically involved with anyone, but his enrollment is met with enthusiasm by the female portion of the Monster High student body. Or as the Ghostly Gossip put it: "School ghouls just jazzed for jungle boy."